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2009 Blog - January/February/March/April
Thursday January 8th
So Kevin Pietersen has resigned as captain of the England cricket team and coach Peter Moores has been sacked. Whilst the latter comes as a surprise to me, the former doesn't. Readers of this site might be aware that I am involved in an international cricket web site http://www.cricketwrite.com/ When Pieterson was appointed I made the following comment:
"Does Pietersen have the right credentials? Only time will tell. On the evidence to date I have doubts. Pietersen will need to curb his egocentric outlook and bouts of excessive behaviour."
I read an interesting article in today's Times newspaper by columnist Simon Barnes whilst waiting to have my teeth cleaned at the dentist. It commented on Pietersen's egocentric behaviour in the following manner:
"He has never quite got his mind around the fact that there are people who do their stuff in the world for reasons entirely unrelated to Kevin Pietersen."
Barnes goes on to liken Pietersen to another of my anti-heroes Geoffrey Boycott:
"They share a strange bewilderment that other people fail to see the world in the same terms, as a Boycott-centric, or a KP-centric, place."
Arrogance to the nth degree and it has been no surprise to me that Pietersen has lasted just a few months. He was scarcely the man for the job in the first place. In Andrew Strauss the country has a much more solid man - perhaps lacking in the same panache as Pietersen but certainly much more dependable.
I was saddened to see Moores go. He did a top class job at Sussex and was an inspirational speaker when he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Brighton on the same day that my eldest son graduated. He talked about motivation and the part it played in enhancing performance. Possibly the complex politics of being a national coach and the obvious arguments between himself and Pietersen compounded problems. The irony of the situation is that Pietersen will continue to play for England as one of the world's great attacking batsmen and Moores will have little problem finding a new position. Both will stay very much within the sport. It's just disappointing that it couldn't be for the benefit of the national team and rather sums up the egos that seem to fly around in top level sport.
* * * At the beginning of every New Year I seem to make the same comments about hope being destroyed. This year no sooner had we seen the New Year in with all its messages of peace and love than Israel and Palestine started bombing the hell out of each other. Perhaps that's why they call it the "Holey Land!"
* * *
I was interested to see that the Government's answer to our current recession problems is to "print more money". Well hallelujah why didn't we all think of that. Running short of money - well just print some more. Perhaps whilst they are doing this they could print a few extra thousands and send them to me!!!!!
Sunday 11th January
I was down at church yesterday when I picked up a small booklet entitled "What is the point of Christmas?" Obviously a Christian tract it looked at the customs, the meaning and the relevance of Christmas and it's something I have thought quite a lot about this year.
It's lovely to get all those presents but why do we give them? I don't write this from a Christian viewpoint but from the point of view of somebody who needs to see a reason for everything.
And surely the reason for giving presents is to celebrate the birth of Jesus which is fine for those who believe the Bible story. But so many people today don't believe in God. So surely it follows that if you are an agnostic or an atheist you shouldn't give presents on December 25th as you have absolutely nothing to celebrate.
The whole thing is made more complex of course by the fact that the birth certainly didn't take place in December anyway. So where does that put us? Confused I would say.
The church men's breakfast was followed by an American made DVD which attacked the people who stand in the streets preaching through bullhorns (that's the American word for a megaphone). These people with their "shoutey" messages give Christianity a bad name. "Amen" to that I say. How many times have you passed one of these people and thought "bloody nutter?"
Anyway the discussion after the video got round to the question of forgiveness and the message was simply God forgives and loves everybody even the axe murderer and the child molester. Tell that to the victims I thought.
I did make the point that there are some areas we shouldn't forgive, but we should learn from. The holocaust is a point in fact. We should never forgive the Nazi race and their atrocities but we should forgive the German people of today who do not condone that behaviour whatsoever. I was pleased to see that in Bavaria they are putting the subject on school curriculums and organising trips to concentration camps. This is an example of people taking responsibility for their past and ensuring that it doesn't happen again.
The other point made during the morning was that (accepting that Jesus did exist and was born just over 2,000 years ago) we haven't come very far in two millenniums. This point was largely accepted as the Palestine/Israel conflict currently raging is an example and taking place right in Jesus' back garden so to speak. I will leave you to make up your own mind on where this leaves God and religion in modern society.
Tuesday 13th January
If it ain't broken don't fix it - that's my New Year's motto. It is particularly relevant to computers and web sites and supermarkets come to think of it and libraries and shops and.........
The problem is you get used to how something works and somebody somewhere changes things. You get used to a bit of computer software and somebody offers you a new super duper upgrade with enhanced facilities. I upgraded a piece of software this week by accident. I hit the "yes please" button instead of the "remind me later" button, although goodness knows why if you turn something down you want to be continually reminded.
So accidentally upgraded, the damn thing just wouldn't do what it used to. I uninstalled and re-installed three times without any more success. In frustration I searched on the internet for the previous version that worked very well - only to find it no longer existed. And they call that progress.
Same thing with good old Barclaycard. For years we had a Goldfish credit card. It always worked fine - absolutely no problems until Goldfish is taken over by Barclays and you have a new card with a new number and a new pin number. As if this isn't inconvenient enough a simple transaction I used to do on-line now doesn't work.
And the great thing is these people constantly tell you about how the improvements are going to make your life easier - I think not.
It's the same with supermarkets. You just get used to finding things and they switch everything around. It's like a national disease. If it's Monday bananas must be in aisle 2. Okay it's not quite that bad but why do they do it. I know it's a marketing ploy to get people to buy different stuff but it just doesn't work. I want to go to a shop where I know the magazines or the coca cola are in the same place as they were last week, last month and last year. Of course the answer is to move yourself - from one supermarket to another and stay with them, get to know where their things are kept and keep with them until they have a shift around and then move onto another!
Thursday 15th January
Norwich City manager Glen Roeder was sacked yesterday and I have to say not before time. Last season the man did a fine job to keep us in the Championship, but this season his team selection and comments have become ever more erratic.
Just before I heard that he had been sacked (and he will probably be crying all the way to the bank thanks to his settlement) there was another ridiculous piece in the local paper which in itself was enough to turn you against the man. I quote:
"Most people haven't had to deal with things like that (referring to his brain tumour). Most people who have to deal with things like that then just slide away and do what they have to do for the rest of their life, but that's not me."
I'm sorry at having to swear here but that is a fucking insult to handicapped people. I will take it to show a friend of mine who had a similar condition, but much worse than Roeders. He survived numerous marathon operations and spent well over 18 months in hospital and when he came out he had to teach himself to eat, read, talk and walk again. He "slid away" so far that he's now walking without sticks and is back driving a car. So Mr Roeder just slip away somewhere else yourself.
Unfortunately throughout his time at Norwich Roeder showed himself to be a very arrogant man unwilling to listen to any criticism or views other than his own. It certainly didn't endear him to anyone. I remember attending a meeting between him and the club's supporters consultative group (of which I am a member) just after he was appointed. Even on that evening he made it quite clear that he wasn't interested in other people's opinions. The problem is he was rubbishing the opinions of long standing fans who had every right to comment on the team's performances. Many of us have watched hundreds more Norwich matches than Roeder was ever likely to. That alone gave us the right to comment. He would do well to remember that at his next club - although I doubt whether he will have learnt any lesson from his short time at Carrow Road.
The story received considerable coverage on the local news programmes. The BBC seemed to have run out of steam tonight, however. We had four stories in a row that featured 1/ A village sign that had been placed in the wrong parish and needed to be moved another 30 metres 2/ A garage which was being asked to pay £50 for a public music licence in order to have a radio on for its workers 3/ A railway signal box official who seemed to spend much of his day with his feet up whilst he read a magazine and 4/ A feature on Morris dancing. Now I think you will agree that it was investigative journalism at its height looking at the things that really affect us (not)!!!!
Sunday 18th January
Well what a difference a week makes. Yesterday at Carrow Road it was just as if the sun had come out again. The same set of players threw themselves into the match against Barnsley and it looked like a different team. The passing was crisp, the running off the ball superb and it resulted in a 4-0 victory amid chants from the crowd of "are you watching Glen Roeder." I suspect Roeder in his arrogance will point to the fact that this was the team he built and he had been telling everyone how talented it was and this was just the day they proved it."
I would put an entirely different spin on things. It was the day the players played to their full potential due to improved tactics and the fact they obviously wanted to win for stand in manager Bryan Gunn, To hear the fans chanting Gunn's name and singing throughout the game was like returning to the good times. One swallow doesn't make summer but it certainly contributes towards one.
Spent some time in Norwich and ended up in my usual haunt - The Forum - to browse the books in the library. Noticed that Paul McKenna has got one called "I Can Make You Sleep" - really is it that boring Paul?
Left the forum to the sound of church bells from St Peter Mancroft church opposite and it almost felt as if spring was on its way, although there's plenty of winter to go yet.
Friday 23rd January
Last night I watched a recording of the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the USA. It was a special and moving ceremony.
The fact that well over one million people lined the Washington Mall area for the event speaks volumes of this man's appeal, but. before we go overboard about how he is going to change the world, let's bring some sanity to this matter.
Despite everything Obama is still only one man - so can he succeed where so many presidents before him have failed? The answer is hopefully yes. Yes in as much as he is the best equipped and most intelligent man to take on the office arguably since John F Kennedy. He is certainly the most charismatic. The tasks he faces are huge and we are living in very different times to when Kennedy was delivering his great speeches. Today everyone wants a slice of the cake and often there just isn't enough to go round. The difference between Obama and say Bush Junior is just huge, however. You get the impression that Obama is president because he has real policies, real integrity, a massive intellect and a real wish to improve things. With Bush you got the impression that he wanted to be president because he thought it was the thing to do.
If any man can make his mark on history, that man is Barack Obama. He has already overcome the racial prejudice that still haunts the USA, but we must look much deeper at the man than just his race. This is no gimick president. As a friend said to me yesterday the only criteria on which to judge Obama's presidency is on what he achieves. The only question that should be asked is "is this man good enough to be president?" In other words the colour of his skin is just a side issue.
Of course this is not strictly true. You cannot divorce Obamas origins and neither would you want to. To do that would be to denigrate the wonderful work of people like Kennedy and Martin Luther King on race issues and the great fight by the majority of Americans to rid the country of racism.
Today, thankfully, people look beyond creed and colour and race is no longer the issue that it was. Having said that there is still much work to be done. Now the rhetoric is finished the new president has to get down to serious work. We have seen in the United Kingdom how things can go wrong. Tony Blair was ushered in as prime minister amidst great trumpetings and fanfares and almost presidential reverence only to fall from grace almost as swiftly.
Of course the American nation is very different to ours. They have a tendency to support their heroes rather than knocking them down. Obama will still have to illustrate that he is up to the job. I truly hope, and indeed believe, that he is, otherwise the disillusionment that will set in will be greater than anything we have ever seen.
If Obama can genuinely make the world a safer place and re-instate the American pride that has become so shaky under the leadership of George W Bush, then he will have gained legendary status in the minds of men and women. He has eight years to put his words into action. I say eight because if he fails to be returned for a second term of office it will mean that he has failed America and the world. Eight short years to prove that one man can truly make the difference. In the words of my favourite songwriter Harry Chapin:
Now if a man
tried
Those words could have been written for Barack Obama. Let's hope he doesn't let the world down.
Tuesday 27th January
I have taken in the evenings to watching You Tube on the computer. I do find it relaxing to know that out there are people with a higher anorak rating than myself.
For the last few nights I have been looking at contributors' top 50 songs, top 50 albums and others describing their record collections (all very weird but it beats watching another police drama on television).
Last night for instance I hooked into a video of a gentleman from America showing us covers of his best 1960s British Invasion albums and also his best 1960s and 1970s psychedelia.
"Here's a rather nice one from the Strawberry Switchblade," he said holding up an album that crackled due to the dust cover round it. "And here's the first album from the British band Family." It was all riveting stuff. But while I laughed at this man's excesses I realised it's just the kind of thing I would do if I knew how to. No please don't contact me with instructions!
Then I had a good look at performances from Jimmy Webb. If you want to know about Jimmy, just have a look at the relevant section of this site. I am at present trying to put together a definitive list of Webb songs and who recorded them. This is quite a task as it runs into thousands and I have only just scratched the surface - finding at least 70 different versions of By The Time I Get to Phoenix alone. I just know there are many times that number as well.
One clip showed a short interview with Jools Holland. I imagine it was short because Holland quite obviously had no idea what he was talking about. In introducing Webb he gave us some of his best known songs which he obviously read straight from the sleevenotes of a compilation CD. "This is the man who wrote songs like By the Time I get to Phoenix (gap) er Macarthur Park, er Wichita Lineman er I Keep It Hid and many many more," he said with cod enthusiasm.
By this time Holland was struggling. I doubt if anyone much has heard of I Keep It Hid, but there it was on the CD sleeve, so Holland probably assumed it was one of his best known numbers. Does anybody get the appeal of Jools Holland? Yes I know he's a bloody good pianist but his interview techniques, his throaty way of talking, his inability to interview people without sounding sycophantic leave much to be desired. His annual New Year's Eve shows are quite frankly embarrassing as he tries to inject enthusiasm for the coming year by leaping around and asking banal questions. In the league of crass presenters he is only challenged by the awful Clive Anderson who always seems as if he's about to apologise for being there.
But as I've said listening to You Tube keeps me away from watching yet more dreadful television detective dramas. Each one tries to outdo the previous one - proving it can be more gorier, have more f words and be harder than the previous. I am sick to the teeth of a room full of detectives shouting at each other and bosses trying to prove their macho make-up by seeing who can shout the loudest and be the hardest. It just isn't like that in real life (and you'll have to trust my experience in that). Bring back Dixon of Dock Green is what I say. Which reminds me I must add that programme to my television heaven and hell section.
Tuesday 3rd February
The news is full of it. Yes we have had a white-out. The snow has fallen, schools are shut, people are stranded. Woke up to a few cm of snow here in Norwich but other parts of the country have deep deep white stuff and London virtually ground to a halt with no trains or buses and people having to walk to work.
The television is as dramatic as ever. "Worst weather for 20 years" they shout as if this is a freak of global warning. Chaps chaps "it's winter and this kind of thing happens all over the globe." Of course in other countries like Russia and the USA, they deal with it and just get on with things.
Here in the UK we moan, we groan, we virtually shut down and there's always an excuse as to why things are running smoothly. London mayor Boris Johnson said yes they had been expecting snow but not this much. In addition it was probably the wrong kind of snow - either too wet or not wet enough, or too white.
"Hey guys we have some really nasty snow coming. It's the ultra white stuff."
Three of the schools in our village were shut - sometimes I believe this is the easy option. One Headmaster from the Midlands interviewed on the news forcibly made the point that in his youth schools didn't shut, kids just walked to school in the snow. I remember it well it was fun. Today, of course pupils and staff come longer distances and nobody would want to think of them having to negotiate icy roads, but it does pose the question "are schools shut all too easily?"
The Media, as usual, go completely over the top. National news had a picture of two youngsters "struggling to school." Actually it was a picture of two youngsters just walking along a road. There wasn't much of a struggle going on.
Wednesday 4th February
Yesterday the walking group to which I belong had a nice five mile stroll around the regenerated parts of Norwich. I know I'm biased in rating Norwich as one of the most lovely cities in the country, but I have had my doubts over the years with areas falling into disrepair.
But the walk illustrated how much hard work is going on to regenerate the area. The old hospital is being ripped down and replaced by tasteful apartments. And tasteful is one of the key words. New buildings merge in sympathetically with the old. Nowhere is this more evident then in the Fye Bridge area where old warehouses have been replaced by new apartments that blend in beautifully with historic buildings like the Merchant House.
Placing the new in with the old has actually enhanced the city. Nobody would have given the Merchant House a second glance when it was situated amongst rotting buildings. Now, however, it stands out again. There are plans to help pedestrians by building two more bridges over the River Wensum and the riverside walk now covers much of the city and is very attractive.
If anything Norwich seems to have modelled itself on York, which is no bad thing. It is a shame that we are so far off the beaten track that we receive relatively small numbers of visitors. For anybody reading this, Norwich is now well worth a visit. It has two excellent shopping centres, an award winning Forum building, a large outdoor market, two Cathedrals, a Norman castle, a picturesque cobbled street in Elm Hill and any other number of delights for walkers willing to look beyond the surface.
Quick message to ITV. Leave the coverage of football to the BBC and Sky as they know what they are doing. Sat through 118 minutes of the cup tie between Everton and Liverpool last night only to miss the only goal of the game because ITV had a technical fault and accidentally showed adverts as the winning goal went in.
Thursday 5th February
Woke up to find snow had again fallen, but this time it turned to rain quickly to give a slushout (I think I might have invented a word there).
Last night before going to bed I watched some of the first cricket test between West Indies and England. So just how do you view Kevin Pietersen's contribution this time? No longer captain, he is left to captivate with his batting. This he certainly does. With the top four England batsmen dismissed for peanuts he started the job of resurrecting the innings and did so in some style. There was the occasional rush of blood to the head when he took a vast yahoo (love that word) at a ball outside the off stump only to miss completely.
Then on 97 he went for the big six only, once again, to top edge a steepler which was caught by the wicketkeeper. Genius or irresponsible? Such is Pietersen's arrogance that in an interview at the end he said simply that at the beginning of play he would have settled for a score of 97. So does this man's arrogance stop him from being a brilliant cricketer or enhance it? Did he save England from another ignominious low score or throw his wicket away when England needed him to bat on? It's almost as if his mind says "well Kev you've done your bit."
A lesser batsman would have seen the three figures looming and gradually nudged their way to that landmark and then started building their score again. Not Pietersen. He has an all or nothing complex. To my mind it will ultimately cost him the accolade of greatness, but does make him a great entertainer.
Most television adverts are pretty appalling but occasionally one comes up that captivates. I refer to the compare the market.com advert which features the loveable Alexander the Meercat and the confusion between compare the meercat.com and compare the market.com. Actually it's an adverts for car insurance but is funny and clever and there actually is a spoof compare the meercat.com web site. Great stuff.
Monday 9th February
If you search hard enough you will find a section of this web site devoted to a study of propaganda over the ages. I have just started work on this but you will see from the opening chapter how cynical I am about marketing, which to me is little more than propaganda - listening to somebody tell you how good their product is. Occasionally it gets to ridiculous levels when top sportsmen like tennis ace Roger Federer, footballer Thiery Henry and golfer Tiger Woods are used to prove that using a particular razor for a shave will give you inner confidence. Although they don't say it the inference is that using these razors will not only give you a wonderful shave, it will make you the envy of all your friends, make you stunningly handsome and a world champion sportsman. What a heap of old tosh.
At best the razors will stop you looking like some castaway on a desert island.
Can somebody tell me why Britain celebrates mediocrity so much? Every time you go to an event there seems to be a booby prize for those finishing last. That's just plain ridiculous. Still it's probably a good thing as it might see our appalling cricket team win something after their gutless debacle in the West Indies that saw them all out for 51. Perhaps they need some of those razors as well. Perhaps sometime in the future we could celebrate sporting success rather than abject failure. Last year's Olympics gave us the taste for it after all.
The other thing that makes me smile is a round of applause for somebody who wins a raffle. Having your ticket picked out of a hat by somebody else takes a lot of skill and ability of course.
I was delighted that Barack Obama admitted his mistake on television after appointing to high government two men with tax affair problems. He admitted publicly that he "had screwed up" which is certainly refreshing from a politician and obviously not something that is likely to come over this side of the pond. Over here we have lost virtually all trust in our politicians who are seen as liars, evaders of the truth and arrogant. Obama has admitted he made a mistake. Of course there is a limit to the number of times a politician can say sorry before he is castigated for continually making mistakes. But at least it's a start. Football managers could take the same road,. When asked if he was selling Robbie Keane the Liverpool manager said something along the lines of "no" (but of course in many more words). Keane left the next day. Norwich City ex-manager Glen Roeder was asked if his assistant Lee Clarke was about to be appointed manager of Huddersfield and replied along the lines of "I have no information that is about to happen." Clarke left the next day, proving that Roeder was either lying or ignorant - or perhaps both.
So let's bring some truth and credibility back into public life. Let's not be afraid to apologise for our mistakes - after all we are all human (except for George W Bush of course). Perhaps it could start with our Prime Minister admitting that Jeremy Clarkson had a point when he referred to him as a "one eyed Scottish idiot." Mind you Clarkson himself could be termed a lanky arrogant English man full of self obsessed views.
As a columnist in the Daily Telegraph said of Obama "He even apologises well."
Thursday 26th February
I must applaud the forward thinking of the music industry which has at last recognised that the only way to prevent pirate and illegal downloading of music is to support legal groups.
This has led to the setting up of two fine new music internet sites - Spotify and We7. I particularly like Spotify and have been listening to it for a couple of weeks now. You download some very simple software and then have the ability to listen to music on desktop or laptop computers. It has a vast array of music and apparently is already approaching the number of tracks in i-tunes.
Spotify exists through advertising and every half hour or so you have to listen to an advert - unless you pay £9.99 a month for the premium advert free service. This is no real problem and is certainly preferable to listening to the frequent banal rubbish spouted by most radio stations. We7 works direct from the internet and I haven't really investigated this much at present, although the constant station adverts at the beginning of each track are rather annoying to say the least.
I was interested to see that the serious newspapers such as the Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent and Guardian have all carried articles on Spotify which gives it even more credibility as a music provider. One article even went as far as to say that CDs and record stores would in the future be unnecessary. I'm not sure that's quite likely yet. There are many people that will be totally confused by the idea of downloading, but for those of us who like to think that we are computer literate it brings an intriguing future as far as music is concerned.
The great thing is it's all legal and so you don't even have to do it furtively. The quality of the music is good and on Sunday I was able to listen to the new U2 album ahead of its scheduled release (this in itself of course is probably a dubious pleasure). My CD collection has stopped growing which I'm sure will be good news to my shelves. Now I have everything available from my computer.
Technology is of course a curse and a blessing at the same time. Computers, MP3 players, mobile phones - they can all turn us into anti social animals. They are also wonderful for entertainment. I am looking forward to buying a Sony e-reader. I say looking forward because I refuse to pay the ridiculously inflated prices that have them available at about £220 which I think is about £80 too much. They started off life at about £190 and then, for some reason that doesn't seem to be obvious, went up £30 instead of going down like laptops and virtually all other electronic equipment.
Incidentally last night felt like Laptopland. There were six people in our lounge and four of them were using laptops for various things. The other two had laptops but had either left them at work or at home. Says something about our computer age!! Of course I was using mine in the interest of saving money - another illustration of how things change in technology land.
When I found out recently that my mobile phone contract was up I decided to get an upgrade. The result is a much improved phone, an up to date Nokia model and a monthly saving of £11. Now that's what I call value.
On a more ridiculous note I have joined twitter. Not quite sure why or what relevance it has to my life - just put it down as an impulse buy that costs nothing.
I must finish today on a serious note regarding the son of an acquaintance and our ridiculous judicial system. How many times have we heard of all too lenient prison sentences for serious matters. Well this one is the reverse and the case has caused a bit of a stir in the local press. This guy has been working for many years in the USA where he legally held a firearm. He subsequently returned to this country and put many of his goods in store - unaware that the firearm was amongst them.
Following a dispute with the storage company, some of the goods went to auction. At that point the gun was discovered, the matter reported to the police, a prosecution undertaken and the result is he has been jailed for five years for illegal possession of a firearm.
The guy has no criminal record, no previous convictions and seems to have made a genuine mistake. We had to hear nonsense from the prosecution about what would have happened if the gun had got in the hands of criminals. HELLO ...... if a criminal wants to get hold of a gun he or she will find it reasonably easy to do so (not that I've ever tried).
So the next time you hear about our prisons being overcrowded, just think of the courts inability to show any commonsense in cases such as this.
Monday 2nd March
I rarely get to read newspapers these days (just too little time). Visiting friends does give you the opportunity to relax more and pore over the weekend papers. So on Saturday I read the Guardian and there were some interesting articles.
Apparently Ryan Air are thinking of charging people £1 to use the toilets on their flights. How ridiculous is that? It's these small things that make the gbp (Great British Public) vote with their feet. I always think it's silly when you are flying and the captain comes over the system and says something along the lines of "thanks for choosing ----- Airlines for your flight today." What nonsense you book flights because you want to go to a particular destination, not because you want to fly with Bloggs Airlines.
But if Ryan Air impose this new charge, many people will chose alternative companies on the grounds of principles. It truly is a crap tax!!!
Elsewhere there was a story of a company giving away books in order to clear them from a warehouse. People carried van loads of the stuff away, many admitting that they would sell them on e-bay. One collector was quoted along the lines of "this kind of thing does prove what a love people still have for books." No no no... what people have a love for is getting something free, making a fast buck and being greedy. It has very little to do with reading habits.
Then, in the same newspaper's arts' section, there was a review of the new Starsailor single (which admittedly is pretty average). The review likened Starsailor's music to waking up in a hot bath to find that you've had a sex change. Wow talk about pseuds' corner. What it had to do with the music goodness knows.
On Saturday I changed my football watching habits to give Norwich City a miss in order to see the League One top of the table clash between MK Dons and Leicester. It was an excellent game full of good football and ended in a 2-2 draw. It made a change to see two teams going forwards instead of sideways and backwards (Canaries take note). Particularly impressive was Stadium MK which really does resemble a mini Wembley. Easily accessible where you enter at ground level to find yourself at the top of the terraces with the pitch obviously laid in some massive hole. The seats are wide and comfortable and there's plenty of room. It was a good visit.
Anyway must break off now to listen to the new Starsailor single again and have a hot bath!!!!
Wednesday 25th March
Two questions: Where does time go and is there any good reason I shouldn't chuck my computer from the highest height? It seems ages since I contributed to this blog and plenty has happened in the meantime although I do feel I am in a marking time passage of life at the moment. There's all the usual things going on but plenty to look forward to. If we only had some better weather (ah the old chestnut). Yesterday it was warm enough to sit outside but today it's back to cold and rain.
As for the computer. Well my desk top has a major driver problem and the only way of sorting it out seems to be to return it to its factory settings. I am busy trying to sort out files and download web sites onto a laptop so I can continue to work on them!!! There are times I hate technology despite spending most of my days with it. How else would I be able to listen to the new album by the Decemberists whilst I'm writing this?
So it's a matter of grinning and bearing it.
Plenty happening at the football club of which I am chairman. One league trophy is in the bag (Under-16 Girls), one is a 99.999% certainty and now we have the opportunity to make it six trophies for the year with four cup semi-finals coming up. So it's going to be a very successful end to the season. The club is also working with the local playing field committee to try and enhance the facilities available - and not before time.
My other bits of vitriol this time around are aimed at organisations that tell you that services are improving when you just know that they aren't. Do they really take the public for idiots? Do they feel some second rate publicity and shoddy marketing will paper over cracks? Do they think that when a thing works well it should be changed? So take a bow Norfolk County Council and its park and ride scheme. I use this quite a lot - particularly after 12.30 p.m to get into Norwich. At the present time it costs £1.60 after this time to park the car and get into the city. That's good value if my wife accompanies me as we still pay £1.60 for the two of us. In fact we can get five people in the car and still pay £1.60 and it's a good service. Buses are plentiful and there is always one ready to go out.
But of course they are changing it. Yes parking will now be free. The bad news is everybody will have to pay separately. But we are told "It'll be the same great service, but even cheaper and easier to use." Now if you believe that you can't have too many brain cells. Let's look at the facts. After 12.30 p.m it will now be £1.60 per adult. The good thing is you can take three children free. But as our children are grown this won't apply to us unless of course we drag three unsuspecting youngsters off the street and insist they get the bus into Norwich just so we can maximise the value to us.
So now we will have to pay £3.20 instead of £1.60 to use the service. Of course if I travel on my own it will still be £1.60 - so what happened to the idea of as many people as possible using the service by using as few vehicles as possible. But we are insulted in the literature by the mythical three children which is the only way this service can approach the value of the previous. Then do they consider that having to pay a driver and get change from him is increasing the simplicity of the service which previously consisted of paying at a machine?
So here is my cost table (again based on travelling off peak after 12.30 p.m. Travel before this time and it costs more)
* - this would require two vehicles to be used
So you can see all the nonsense about free children is just a smokescreen. There isn't a single category where the price per passenger will not rise. So come on Norfolk County Council if you are putting the prices up be honest and say so. Don't take us for idiots. I have sent the following e-mail to the council:
"I read with interest your ludicrous claims in Your Norfolk that the new park and ride charges will run out cheaper. Sadly it doesn't take much intelligence to see through your ludicrous claims. I attach a table with all the costs worked out for travel after 12.30 p.m. You will see that in virtually every category travel will be more expensive and in no categories will it be cheaper.
The new prices will lead to a drop off in people using the service (something that will
undoubtedly be confusing to you) and more people will drive into Norwich where you will be able to get two or three hours in a car park for the new charges. Please do not try to con the public with articles that are so obviously
untrue." I don't really expect a reply but if I do get one it
will be interesting to see how they can possibly prove that their
statement is not only misleading but also blatantly untrue.
It is quite obvious what will happen. The content of the newspapers will become tired and dull and repeated across all the editions and mistakes will creep into the editorial due to the fact that reporters will be checking their own copy. If a reporter cannot spell a particular word that is how it is likely to appear in the paper. Oh and for good measure the company has already put the price of its on-line editions of the Evening News and Eastern Daily Press up from £50 to £106 a year - a swingeing increase that can have no justification other than perhaps plans to kill the service off by ensuring that nobody takes out a subscription. I understand Archant made a profit of £22 million last year!!!!!
Thursday 2nd April
Well I survived April Fools Day, although as a penance I cleared the loft out. It's a job I've been meaning to do for some time, but when we decided to have proper loft insulation put in it was the catalyst to clear things out - and what a load of rubbish I found. Bags full of old magazines that will never be read, old folders full of rubbish. But I did make a find. I have always regretted not keeping some of my newspaper writings from my years as a journalist. Today I found about a years worth of articles written about Norwich City Football Club, along with television reviews and, best of all, rock music columns from the heady days of the Eastern Evening News' Here and Now column. At least it will give my street cred as a rock journalist a much needed boost. So be prepared to be bored because as soon as I get my desk top computer fixed I will be scanning the articles in for this site.
In my last blog entry I sounded off about the "stealth" increase in Norfolk County Council's park and ride scheme. I did forget to mention that it will be cheaper for one section of the community. The single man (or womaned) vehicle going to work in the morning before 9.30 a.m. For them the journey will be significantly cheaper. This seems similarly silly as the whole point about cutting carbon footprints is to encourage multiple occupancy of vehicles. The county council point out that the majority of their park and ride users are one person in a vehicle. It seems to be flying in the face of the acceptable.
I got a rather long and torturous reply to my e-mail which (in the spirit of fairness I print below)
Dear Mr Steward The following was my response:
You miss the point.
As my table illustrated every category in the afternoon will be paying
significantly more. In the mornings the only person who will benefit will
be the lone motorist who will pay less. Every other category will still
pay more. Your article stated that Park and Ride would be cheaper. Not in
the majority of cases. It will be up to 100% more expensive as my table
illustrated. Therefore your copy was totally misleading. What this will do
is make people other than lone drivers, take their vehicles into the city
and I have no doubt that the popularity of the park and ride scheme will
diminish with the county This time the response was just one sentence: I have noted your comments.
I await with interest the general view on the new arrangements. I also await articles in the local Media explaining why the use of the park and ride scheme has suddenly diminished.
I
also received an e-mail today from a journalist from the Sunday Times who
wants to speak to me about my bad treatment at the hands of a mobile phone
company following a piece on my web site. She is apparently doing an
article on people suffering at the hands of mobile phone companies.
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